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Local Times for the Occultation of Saturn

For more than 300 cities throughout North America, the following table tells when the planet Saturn will be covered by the Moon. This event takes place in the afternoon or evening hours of Wednesday, February 20th. Cities are grouped by state or province. First click on the abbreviation of your state or province (listed alphabetically below), then scroll to the city nearest you.

Two times are given for each place. The occultation begins when Saturn first encounters the Moon's dark (eastern) limb, and it ends when Saturn reappears on the bright (western) limb. After each time are listed the altitudes of the Moon and Sun in degrees above the horizon. The reason for giving the Sun's altitude is to let you know whether the event occurs in the afternoon (altitude positive), in twilight (altitude between 1° and 18°), or in full nighttime (altitude lower than 18°).

As seen from parts of Canada and the northwestern U.S., the Moon will narrowly miss Saturn. In this case the table tells what time they will appear closest, along with Saturn's angular distance (in arcminutes) from the Moon's edge.

About Roger W. Sinnott

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Our calendar combines gorgeous astrophotography and special sky scenes that illustrate the positions of the Moon and bright planets. It also highlights the important celestial events of every month, including solar and lunar eclipses, meteor showers, conjunctions, and occultations of bright stars by the Moon.